GWERU — Midlands State University (MSU) chancellor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday
conferred degrees to 6995 graduands at the 23rd graduation ceremony held at the main campus in
Gweru.Of the graduands, there were 3519 females and 3476 males of which one of them Patricia Banda,
who was in the faculty of Commerce Information Systems Management, graduated post-humously
with a MSU Book Prize.There were 974 postgraduate students, inclusive of five Doctors of Philosophy and two Masters of
Philosophy.Speaking at the first all-inclusive face-to-face graduation ceremony in the aftermath of Covid-19,
MSU Vice Chancellor Professor Victor Muzvidziwa said the institution continues to make strides in
pursuit of Education 5.0.“We owe our achievements to our resilient and very dedicated academic and support staff members
who have been resolute in creating conditions for successful implementation of Education 5.0,” said
Professor Muzvidziwa.
He said Education 5.0 has helped MSU to define its niche in the national economic transformation
agenda.“To that end, we have over the past four years painstakingly worked to build the research and
innovation ecosystem that will support social and economic development.The Faculty of Engineering and Geosciences has embarked on the manufacturing of prototypes of
black granite beneficiation equipment through seed funding from the Higher and Tertiary Education
Ministry.MSU expects that industrial scale black granite cutting, polishing and engraving machines will in
future be manufactured from its Industrial Park.The Faculty is also working with South African and Australian institutions on beneficiation of Zimbabwean lithium ores. It is also trailing drone-assisted digital mapping that will help cover the 40
percent geological mapping gap in the country.
The Department of Metallurgical Engineering has also developed nano-technology-based mineral
processing materials currently being trialed by reputable local mining houses in a major drive
towards import substitution which is a key deliverable under the National Development Strategy
(NDS 1).Professor Muzvidziwa said this year MSU filed 45 Intellectual Property applications in copyrights,
utility models, patents, trademarks and industrial designs.The MSU innovation ecosystem has seen the birth of start-up companies which include Culinary Delicacies, Nerd-IQ, Midlands Scientific, Real Lego Bricks and Herbicure.
“These start-ups cover application of Artificial Intelligence in managing business information and
security, food and nutrition and plastic waste recycling.
“The start-ups are being incubated at the Innovation Hub and ready for scaling up o industrial
production levels,” said the MSU Vice Chancellor.He said MSU worked on several consultancy projects which include aquaculture management,technical support to the Ntengwe community in Binga district and development of a blood
transfusion mobile application for the National Blood Transfusion Services.Professor Muzvidziwa said the National Pathology Centre is now operational following the final
inspection and certification by the Health Professions Authority on November 3 and is now ready to
offer one of the best medical services in the Southern Region.
He said the National Pathology Research and Diagnostic Centre has started to embark on a massive
vaccine production project in collaboration with National Biotechnology Authority.
“… let me remind our graduands that our core values are hard work, teamwork, honesty, integrity,
accountability, passion for excellence, self-discipline and respect for others. Let us embody and
commit ourselves to enacting these values as we serve our nation,” said Professor Muzvidziwa.
